Can package



March 13, 1956 c. M. SHANAHAN 2,738,055

CAN PACKAGE Filed May 12, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 m nig- 14' fnz/enzrCurtis Hahn an March 13, 1956 c. M. SHANAHAN CAN PACKAGE 2 Sheets-Sheet2 Filed, May 12 1952 [mum-L227: CUFZLZS Mj/uzncL/Lam i It United StatesPatent CAN PACKAGE Curtis M. Shanahan, Chagrin Falls, Ohio, assignor toContainer Corporation of'America, Chicago, 111., a corporation ofDelaware Application May 12, 1952, Serial No. 287,284

3 Claims. or. 206-4514) The invention, of which certainpreferred-illustrative embodiments are disclosed herein, pertains to canholders composed of fibrous sheetmaterial, such as paperboard, and to apackaged unit consisting of one or more cans as packaged in the holder,the arrangement being such that one or more of the cans disposed in thepackage maycoop erate with the holder or portions thereof substantiallyto secure the can or cans and holder against relative displacement. Moreparticularly, the holder is ofsuchnature and construction that it willexpose at least one side-wall of a can or similar container and itslabel'or contents indicia to the view of a customer. The holderexemplified may be considered to be of that general type of which anexample is disclosed in Chidsey Patent 2,571,833 dated October 16, 1951,but should not be considered as limited thereto since certain featuresare applicable to containers of other types.

One of the principal objects of theinvention is to provide a simple andeffective means integral with-the band holder whereby a single can or aplurality of cans may be firmly and securely held in the holder againstaccidental displacement from an open side of the holder yet which willnot interfere with or obstruct a clear view of data on a can or itslabel such as the can contents, brand, weight, etc.

Other important objects include the provision of a holder which mayreceive and retain a single canyor a plurality of cans, or one or morecans andone or more .items of a different nature to be packaged with thecan or cans as a unit package, which will permitat can or cans to beinserted with ease and speed either by hand or machine operation, whichwill automatically secure a can or cans against accidental displacementas the cans are inserted to their properposition in the package, whichwill require aminimum of material andoperations iii-manufacture, whichmay be manufactured and stored,.shipped and otherwise handled either inthe blank form or in a folded and secured but flattened or collapsedform, and which is adapted to package cans and other typesof containerof various body shapes including cylindrical, poly onal and other shapesand to all such containers whether having chimes or flat ends withoutchimes;

Other objects as well as the many advantages and uses of the inventionwill become apparent after reading the following description and claimsand afterob's'erving the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a can holder with a can disposed andsecured therein, the construction of the holder being in accordance with'onefo'rm ofthe invention, a part of one side of the package beingbroken away;

Fig. 2 is transverse sectional view of the holder and can package unitof Fig. 1, the section being takensubstantially along the line 2-2 ofFig. 3;

Fig. 3 is a sideelevation, with parts broken away and parts in sectionalong-section line 3-3 of Fig. 2, of the package of Figs-1 and 2;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a blank as cut ands'co'red ready" 2,738,055Patented Mar. 13, 1956 It should be-appreciated at the outset that eachof the two forms of the invention illustrated may be employed to packagea single can or other container as well as two or' more cans or othercontainers and, when and where desired, may be employed, with orwithoutsubstantial modification, to package two or more entirely differenttypes of commodity as, for instance, a can and a brush or a can and acan opener.- Of course where a c'anor the like and an item such as abrush or can opener are packaged together, some-special arrangement forsecuring the packaged items against displacement from one open sideoftheholder may be required as will be pointed out and describedhereinafter. Unit packages of canned goods oi-canned goods and otheritems for sale have many advantages for the manufacturer of commoditieswhich may be packaged in holders of the type disclosed herein and,likewise, for the wholesaler, the retailer and the ultimate consumer orpurchaser. A few of the advantages are mentioned in Patent 2,571,833,above noted.- i

The holder shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 may be constructed from the blankof Fig. 4 which consists of a generally rectangular piece orstrip ofpaperboard or other suitable material cut from sheets or rolls of thematerial and sco'redready for the application of adhesive to a glue flapat one end and folding and securing in flat or open tube-form forstorage, shipping or immediate use. The blank strip'shown is defined bylongitudinal side edges 8 and 8 whichare parallel to one another inthisem'bodiment, by endedges 9 and 9 which likewise are parallel andextend at right angles to the side edges, by score-lines "10, 10 and11,- 11 which are paralle'lto edges 9,9 and define a glue Help 12, topand bottom end wall panels oneof which is designated 13 and the other13, a pair of side wall panels 14, 14, and a pair of securing flapsgenerally designated 15,15, the functions and details of which will beexplained in fullhereinafter, which project laterally from th'e sideedges of panels 13 and 13', respectively,andare delineated therefrombyhinge or fold score lines 16, 16" aligned with the edge 8. Adhesivemaybe applied-toeither side of glue flap 12 for connecting that flaptothe marginal portion of panel 14 along edge 9 when the blank is foldedalong score lines 19,10, 11

'and' 11' to'eifect the tubular form. If the holder is to be put in aflattened tube form for storage or shipping and until ready' for use,the blank may be secured-in such formby" folding the ends toward oneanother about either fold lines 10 and 11 or fold lines 10' and 11', aswill apparent, or, after being folded and secured in box form, may beflattened or collapsed by'press'ing diagonally opposite corner edgestoward a plane through the other pair of diagonally opposite corneredges.

The holder illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, is illustratedasequipped with a securing flap, 15 or 15 for only one side of each of thepanels 13' and 13 but for some purposes there may be a duplicate of oneor the other of these flaps latthe opposite side of each or both ofpanels 13, 13'. Also, for some purposesthere may be but'one' securingflap, either 15 or 15', for one of the panels 130113', as maybepreferred, the other of these panels being dev'oidof 'a'securing flap,or there may be a 'seeuringflap atbo'th sides of one of the panels 13and 13", 'the'o'ther' being -withdutsuch flaps; Theseseverhlarrangements and the manners in which they may function will becomeapparent as this description proceeds.

The flaps and 15' are similar in construction and function. Each iscomposed of an inner portion or section 17 preferably of rectangularshape and an outer portion or section 18 preferably of the shape of asegment of a circle when the holder is to receive cans having circularchimes, the two portions being delineated or segregated from one anotherby a score, fold or hinge line 19 parallel to the hinge or score line 16or 16. It is preferable that the opposite free edges 2% portion 17 becut back slightly from the score lines 13 and 19 to which they may beparallel thereby to reduce the width of the flap so that it will foldfreely, without frictional resistance, inwardly of the holder toward theinner face of the end wall panel to which it is connected. Preferablyalso the edges 20 are off-set or stepped outwardly slightly from thejunctions of the ends of the arcuate edge 21 of portion 18 with hingeline 19 for purposes which will appear.

The arcuate edge 21 of the outer portion 13 preferably is a true arestruck on a radius, equal to or only slightly less than the radius fromthe center of a can end to the inside circumferential surface of the canchime, using a center located on the median line of the flap but withinthe bounds of portion 17, so that the distance from edge 21 to the foldline 19, measured along the median line, is somewhat less than thelength of the radius of the are. Adjacent to the fold or hinge line 16the inner portion 17 is arcuately slit, as at 22, equidistantly to eachside of the median line of the flap, on a radius equal to or slightlygreater than the radius from the center of the can end to the outsidesurface of the can chime at that end, using a center located on saidmedian line but within the bounds of portion 18, so that the distancefrom the slit 22 to the fold or hinge line 19, measured along saidmedian line, is somewhat less than the radius of the slit are.Preferably the centers about which the arcuate edge 21 and the arcuateslit 22 are struck are spaced equal distances from the fold or hingeline 19.

The ends of slit 22 terminate well within the bounds of the side edges20 of flap portion 17 and are turned about upon themselves, as indicatedat 22, on the convex side of the slit, i. e. toward the fold or hingeline 16, so as to permit that edge 23 of the slit which is adjacent to(faces away from) the hinge line 16, to move out of or to be displacedfrom the plane in which the opposite (remote as respects line 16) edge24 along the slit, the function and purpose of this arrangement latermore fully appearing. Of course, if desired, a slot may be formed inplace of a slit and the reversely curved ends of the slit may alsobecome slots; also, instead of having reversely curved ends the slit orslot ends may extend more or less radially, from the ends of the portionstruck from the center in flap portion 18, toward the hinge line 16. Therecurved ends 22 of the slot 22 provide tab-like parts or lips 23'.

When the holder is folded and secured in its tube or box form thesecuring flaps 15, 15 are permitted to remain in the planes of the topand bottom end walls until it is desired to package a can or the liketherein at which time the two portions of each flap are folded aftersuch manner as to put them in the positions indicated in Figs. 1 to 3inclusive, when a can having a chime at each end is packaged in theholder. The two portions or sections 17, 18 of each flap, as one, may befolded about hinge line 16 or 16, inwardly of the holder to a positionwhere they extend in a plane substantially parallel with and adjacent tothe inner surface of the end wall panel to which they are attachedwhereupon the portion 18 is swung about the fold or hinge line 19 to aposition where it lies substantially parallel to the portion 17 and theadjacent end wall panel but at the side adjacent to the end of the canto be packaged in the holder. At this time, if the arcuate edge 21 andthe arcuate slit 22 have been correctly formed and positioned, that edgeand the edges 23 and 24 of the slit will be concentric over the lengthto which they may be coextensive and the edge 21 will be spaced apartfrom the edge 23 by a radial distance not less than nor verysubstantially greater than the radial thickness of the chime of a can tobe packaged.

The length or height of the side walls of the holder preferably shouldclosely aproximate the overall height of a can (including the chimes) tobe packaged but some allowance is usually made, for one thicknes ofmaterial, i. e. the portion 17 of a flap, between the chime end and theinner surface of the adjacent end panel as will be appreciated from theview of Fig. 3. The can may he slipped sidewise into the tube fromeither side opening but it is much easier to do so from a position tothe right of Figs. 1, 2 or 3, for while the one hand is being used atthe left side of the holder (oriented as illustrated) to hold the foldedflap portions in place, the other hand may be used to slide the can intoplace, the folded edge formed by the hinge line 19 passing between thecan chime and the end wall panel.

Partly by reason of the resilience of the material and tension andcompression forces or possibly other forces tending to distort thematerial due to the folding of the two portions or sections of thesecuring fiap and, perhaps, partly by reason of other factors includingthe engagement of the end edge of the can chime with the margin ofportion 17 along edge 24, as indicated at 25 in Fig. 3, the edge 23 andthose parts of portion 17 including the tab-like parts or lips 23' whichborder edge 23, rise out of the plane in which the edge 24 and theadjacent parts of portion 17 lie, so as to provide a more or lesscontinuous arcuate abutment against which the exterior side or surfaceof the can chime (or can side wall at the end thereof if there is nochime) will engage when the can is entered into the tube or band to itsproper position. The can chime or can end, if the holder is made in thepreferred manner and with preferred dimensions relative to the can to bedisposed therein, will press against the margin or border of edge 24urging it and other chime engaged parts of portion 17 outwardly towardand against the adjacent end wall panel of the holder. At the same timethe portion 18 and the edge 21 will have sprung away from portion 17 todispose the edge 21 inside of the can chime and in abutting relation tothe inner surface of the chime along a coextensive arcuate length ofthat surface. As Fig. 3 clearly illustrates, this places the can chimebetween oppositely facing arcuate abutments formed by edges 21 and 23 sothat thecan is restrained against displacement from the position towhich it has thus been placed in the holder.

If the can has a chime at only one end and the holder is correctlyproportioned so that the can may have little or no endwise movementrelative to the holder, a securing flap at one end only may suffice tohold the can firmly against accidental displacement from the package.Also, as will appear from the other embodiment illustrated in Figs. 5 to7 inclusive, the portion 18 of the securing flap may be omitted when thecan has a plain or flat end without a chime, reliance being placed uponthe abutment provided by an edge 23 at one or both ends of the can torestrain the can from accidental displacement from one side of thepackage and upon either a similar and opposing abutment on a securingflap at the opposite side of the holder at the same or the diagonallyopposite end, or, some other means such as a piece of tape securedacross the opposite open side of the holder. As will be appreciated theconstruction of the holder and its securing flaps and the form or shapeof the abutment or restraining edges of the securing flaps may bemodified to conform to can ends of rectangular or other shapes.

The holder of the embodiment of Figs. 5 to 7 inclusive, is designedprimarily for packaging a plurality of cans having plain or flat ends,i. e. without chimes, and to 2,7ss,oos

give increased visibility of the side wall areas of cans or othercontainers packaged in the holder. Fig. 7 illustrates the blank asformed from suitable paperboard or other sheet material, by cutting andscoring, and ready to be, secured in tubular or box form after themanner of the embodiment previously described. The blank has a glue flap30, end wall panels 31 and 31 either of which may be the top wall paneland the other the bottom wall panel, a pair of side wall panels32 and32, and a securing flap 33 at each side edge of each of the end wallpanels. The opposite side edges of each of the side wall panels 32, 32'are cut concavely as at 34 on equal radii so that, when cans or otheritems are packaged in the holder, a greater area of the side wallsurface of each end can or part of the packaged item will be exposed toview.

The securing flaps 33 differ from those of the holder of Figs. 1 to 4 inthat each hasbut one portion to provide an abutment for engaging a canend to prevent displacement but the arrangement is such that the singleabutment at one side of an end wall panel to prevent accidentaldisplacement of a can from that side is supplemented by a correspondingsingle abutment at the other side of the end wallpanel reacting againsta can adjacent thereto to prevent displacement from such side. Here eachof the securing flaps 33 is provided with a slit 35 corresponding inevery material respect with the slits 22 above described. Each edge 36formed by the slit serves to abut against the outside surface of the canside wall at an end thereof when'the securing flap is folded inward ofthe holder end wall panel as Figs. 5 and 7 clearly reveal. Thisarrangement is useful for cans which lack a chime or its equivalent andmay be employed for packaging one can or a plurality as shown and foreither or both ends of a can. If desired an abutment flap may beemployed at only one side of an end wall panel if the opposite side ofthe package is blocked by other means against egress of a can therefrom.

It should nowbe apparent that while both embodiments of the holder areparticularly adapted for cans and like containers having circular endsor one circular end regardless of the shape or construction of theopposite end, appropriate changes in the shape and arrangement of theedges or lips forming the abutments or securing means may be made toaccommodate cans and other containers and objects having ends ofpolygonal or other shape or conformation. It' will be clear also, thatthe invention is adapted to employment for cans having chimes or cansdevoid of chimes and whether of the drawn type without an end bead orseam or of the seamed or beaded end construction. It should also beunderstood that the term slit as it may be used in the claims isintended to be interpreted broadly to include a slot where thefunctional purposes would be the same or similar. Accordingly, it isdesired that the invention be considered as limited only by its spiritand the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A can package comprising a can and a holder thereabout, said holdercomprising a length of material such as paperboard cut, folded andsecured in tube form to provide a pair of substantially oppositelydisposed and spaced end wall panels, one end wall panel extending acrossa portion of one and the other across a portion of the other end of thecan, a pair of substantially oppositely disposed and spaced side wallpanels, said package being open at one side between said side wallpanels to expose the side wall of the can to view, and means forretaining one end of said can against displacement through said openside comprising a flap connected with one of said end wall panels alongthat marginal edge of the panel which is adjacent to and extends betweenthe side wall panels at said open side, said flap being disposed betweenpaperboard cut, folded and secured in tube form to provide a pair ofsubstantially oppositely disposed and spaced end wall panels, one endWall panel extending across a portion of one and the other across aportion of the other end of the can,a pair of substantially oppositelydisposed and spaced side wall panels, said package being open at oneside between said side wall panels to expose the side wall of the can toview, and means for retaining one end of said can against displacementthrough said open side comprising a flat connected with one of said endwall panels along that marginal edge of the panel which is adjacent toand extends between the side wall panels at said open side, said fiapbeing disposed between the adjacent end of the can and the end wallpanel to which it is connected, and an abutment integral with said flap,displaced from the plane of the flap and engaged with and along asubstantial length of the outwardly facing margin of the said exposedcan side wall adjacent to said one end of said can, said abutment beingformed by the outer edge of the materialprovided by a slit cut throughsaid flap along a path substantially conforming to the contour of theside wall of the can at said one end of the can. v

3. A can package comprising a cylindrical can and a holder thereabout,said holder comprising a strip of material such as paperboard cut,folded and secured in tube form to provide a pair of substantiallyoppositely disposed and spaced end wall panels, one end wall panelextending across a portion of one and the other across a portion of theother end of the can, a pair of substantially oppositely disposed andspaced side wall panels, said package being open at one side betweensaid side wall panels to expose the side wall of the can to view, andmeans for retaining one end of said can against displacement throughsaid open side comprising a flap connected with one of said end wallpanels along that marginal edge of the panel which is adjacent to saidopen side, said flap being dis posed across and between the adjacent endof the can and the end wall panel to which it is connected, and anabutment integral with said flap and engaged with and along asubstantial length of the outwardly facing margin of the said exposedcan side wall adjacent to said one end of said can, said abutmentbeingformed by the outer edge of the material provided by an arcuate slit cutthrough said flap wholly within the bounds thereof and along a pathconforming to the contour of the side wall of the can at said one end ofthe can, theopposite end portions of said slit recurving upon themselvesaway from said can side wall.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS345,298 Goodbody July 13, 1886 1,603,024 Childs Oct. 12, 1926 2,331,038Meller Oct. 5, 1943 2,443,256 Lebold June 15, 1948 2,523,986 FosterSept. 26, 1950 2,554,190 Hennessey May 22, 1951 2,571,833 Chidsey, Jr.Oct. 16, 1951 2,611,521 Hackman et al. Sept. 23, 1952 2,614,737 ParkerOct. 21, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 45,697 France Aug. 26, 1935

